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‘Homeless hero’ of Manchester Arena bombings stole from victims and took pictures of the wounded

The crimes were discovered following the release CCTV footage


Chris Parker, 33, has been found guilty of theft, following the release of CCTV footage that shows him taking items from injured victims of the Manchester bombings as other people were laying nearby, injured, dead or dying.

Originally he was heralded a hero after saying he ran into the building to help those who had been injured during the attack.

A GoFundMe was created in his honour after his interview on national television went viral, raising £52,000.

He later admitted to stealing from two victims after footage showed him taking a mobile phone and a handbag. It also showed him taking photos of others as they lay dying.

One clip, played in court, saw Parker lean over injured survivor Pauline Healey in order to take her purse whilst her teenage granddaughter was dying next to her.

The four pictures he took he then sold for £100.

He has been jailed for four years and three months and banned from Manchester City Centre for ten years, with the judge commenting: "You were not the hero you pretended to be. You were just a common thief."

The prosecutor, Louise Brandon, said of Parker, "as the tragedy unfolded around him, when the vast majority of those who were in the arena with him were trying to save lives and care for the injured and lost, the defendant was focused on seeking to take advantage of the situation."

The mother of the critically injured teenage girl whose phone he stole said "Yet another blow as to how despicable people could be."

The 14 year old was holding the phone at the time of the blast, and Parker later picked it up, declining an incoming call with the automated message "Sorry I can't talk right now."

Superintendent Chris Hill of the Greater Manchester Police spoke of the act as "deplorable".

Salman Abedi detonated a homemade bomb at an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena 22 May last year, killing 22 people, including those as young as eight, and injuring at least 500 more.

A spokesperson for GoFundMe said the money raised was returned to the donors.